Thangles and Knee Lifts

Can you say P R O C R A S T I N A T I O N? yES! i SAID procrastination! That's what I'm doing lately. I've been putting off finishing the work on two quilts. One is my communication-themed Fiberactions group quilt, which is due Mar. 15. And the other is the bluebird quilt I shared a while back or longer (I have no idea how far back I shared it as I'm too lazy to go look), which by the way really has no deadline, but sort of does just for the fact that it really should get done.

I know I'm not the only person who procrastinates. I have differing reasons for procrastinating too. Mostly, though, the main reason I do so is because the art work in limbo is not going well, not proceeding according to the vision in my head, or I'm unsure of where I should go next. So that's why those two quilts are in the avoidance heap.

I know I'll get back to them at some point, and I keep telling myself that it won't help to get stressed about it. The deadline for the Fiberactions quilt will help me get going on that one.

So what have I been doing in the meantime? Well I had a lazy day (a.k.a. low-motivation day), I had an update-the-business-end-of-things day for tax purposes, and now I'm starting quilting on a quilt I shared here even longer ago, that's been sitting in the UFO pile. I'll share a photo of that, maybe tomorrow.

Another thing I've been doing in the meantime is thinking about the knee-lift feature of my sewing machine. I never use it! I have tried it in the past. I found it to be in my way, cumbersome, and then I'd find myself just lifting the presser foot how I normally would, with my hand on the lever. I also found it hard to coordinate the use of the knee-lift and the use of my foot on the gas pedal. Too much responsibility for one leg!

I've been wondering to myself lately, how long would it/does it take to actually become accustomed to using the knee-lift. And is it possible to convert. So I'm asking you, do you use your sewing machine knee-lift? Why or why not? If so, did you always use it or how long did it take you to get comfortable with it? Thanks for any input/advice/etc. you have to offer.

Oh and I couldn't just have a blog post without a photo. Here's my latest find/purchase. Thangles! I know these have been around for a long while, but I've never bought any. The Block of the Month program I'm doing through Three Creative Studios, has a lot of these units in the blocks. So I'm trying a pack out to see if I think I should just continue to print my own paper templates or if this is the only way to half-square triangle.